Fiscal Policy and Economic Stability: Does PIGS stand for Procyclicality In Government Spending?

The Financial Crisis has hit particularly hard countries like Ireland or Spain. Procyclical fiscal policy has contributed to a boom-bust cycle that undermined fiscal positions and deepened current account deficits during the boom. We set up an RBC model of a small open economy, following Mendoza (1991), and introduce the effect of fiscal policy decisions that change over the cycle. We calibrate the model on data for Ireland, and simulate the effect of different spending policies in response to supply shocks. Procyclical fiscal policy distorts intertemporal allocation decisions. Temporary spending boosts in booms spur investment, and hence the need for external finance, and so generates very volatile cycles in investment and the current account. This economic instability is also harmful for the steady state level of output. Our model is able to replicate the relation between the degree of cyclicality of fiscal policy, and the volatility of consumption, investment and the current account observed in OECD countries.

Should Fiscal Policy be different in a Non-Competitive Framework?

Published as an article in: Journal of Monetary Economics, 2003, vol. 50, issue 6, pages 1311-1331.

Process management in healthcare.Sant Camil Hospital case study

Nowadays due to the crisis, some government measures are aimed at reducing healthcare spending, affecting in some level or another the quality offered. Process management is said to be a useful tool for reducing healthcare costs by improving management without any additional economic investment. That is doing more with the same resources and without reducing the quality offered. In this study an empirical case of a Catalan hospital is presented. Overall, the usefulness of process management in the healthcare sector is shown and some tips are provided for those managers that want to implement this management system in their hospitals. This work is also interesting for those managers responsible for the National Healthcare System due to a big question is stated: what would happen if process management was implemented in the whole healthcare system?

Duplicidades, concurrencias e ineficiencias en el entramado institucional vasco

[ES]El trabajo parte de una clarificación del concepto de duplicidad funcional administrativa distinguiéndolo de las concurrencias y las ineficiencias, y plantea un enfoque selectivo a la hora de afrontarlas. Se analizan los ámbitos críticos para la aparición de duplicidades e ineficiencias y sus posibles causas, para, posteriormente, examinar los instrumentos jurídicos de que disponemos para evitarlas o encauzarlas valorando su efectividad en las políticas de ingreso y de gasto, y finalmente realizar propuestas. El trabajo analiza, asimismo, recientes iniciativas legislativas (ley municipal de Euskadi y ley de administración pública vasca) que prevén cambios significativos en la institucionalización interna y en las relaciones entre Administraciones Públicas, vascas valorando sus novedades e insuficiencias como instrumento para superar las duplicidades.